Consumer electronics platforms such as smart televisions (TVs), laptops, tablets, cell phones, etc., may decode and/or render media streams from a variety of sources, including online media servers, disk drives, hard drives, etc., wherein a media stream may include one or more types of media content, such as video content and audio content. While certain media platforms may attempt to enhance playback performance or reduce media pipeline bottlenecks, such solutions are typically based on a premise that the underlying content, such as video content, necessarily is to be decoded and displayed. Simply put, once playback begins, conventional media platforms decode and display all content of a media stream irrespective of an individual's actual use of or attention to the content, unless the individual expressly halts playback. Therefore, unnecessary utilization of resources, such as processors, decoders and other power intensive resources, may occur in situations where the individual is no longer experiencing the media stream or is only experiencing a portion of the media stream (e.g., listening but not watching).